"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

by way of

Swinging London The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...

" by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...

'' magazine, the song was perceived by some as the band's return to their

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

roots after the

baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid 1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...

and

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic dru ...

heard on their preceding albums '' Aftermath'' (1966) (which did feature some blues songs), ''

Between the Buttons ''Between the Buttons'' is the fifth British and seventh American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 20 January 1967 in the UK and on 11 February in the US as the follow-up to ''Aftermath''. It reflected the S ...

'' (1967) and especially '' Their Satanic Majesties Request'' (1967). One of the group's most popular and recognisable songs, it has featured in films and been covered by numerous performers, notably

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1946) Retrieved . is an American singer. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit record in 1977 with her recording of "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English musician and songwriter who was a member of the rock bands Humble Pie and the Herd. As a solo artist, he has released several albums, including his major breakthrough album, the live ...

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-wi ...

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

and

Alex Chilton William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s ...

. To date, it is the band's most-performed song: they have played it over 1,100 times in concert. It is one of their most popular songs, and it is on ''Rolling Stone''s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It is also, according to

Acclaimed Music Acclaimed Music is a website created by Henrik Franzon, a statistician from Stockholm, Sweden in September 2001. Franzon has statistically aggregated hundreds of published lists that rank songs and albums into aggregated rankings by year, decade ...

, the 77th-best-ranked song on critics' all-time lists.

Inspiration and recording

Written by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

, recording on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" began during the ''

Beggars Banquet ''Beggars Banquet'' is the 7th British and 9th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first R ...

'' sessions of 1968. Regarding the song's distinctive sound, guitarist Richards has said: Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, when they were awoken one morning by the clumping footsteps of his gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. Surprised, Jagger asked what it was, and Richards responded: "Oh, that's Jack – that's jumpin' Jack." The lyrics evolved from there. Humanities scholar

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultur ...

speculated that the song's lyrics might have been partly inspired by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

's poem " The Mental Traveller": "She binds iron thorns around his head / And pierces both his hands and feet / And cuts his heart out of his side / To make it feel both cold & heat." The main riff is similar to their song ''

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song recorded by the English Rock music, rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' Jagger–Richards, songwriting partnership, it features a Riff, guitar riff by Richards that ...

''. Jagger said in a 1995 interview with ''Rolling Stone'' that the song arose "out of all the acid of ''Satanic Majesties''. It's about having a hard time and getting out. Just a metaphor for getting out of all the acid things." And in a 1968 interview, Brian Jones described it as "getting back to ... the funky, essential essence" following the psychedelia of ''Their Satanic Majesties Request''. In his autobiography ''Stone Alone'',

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...

has said that he came up with the song's distinctive main guitar riff, working on it with

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to pro ...

and

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...

before it was ultimately credited to Jagger and Richards. In ''Rolling with the Stones'', Wyman credits Jagger with vocals, Richards with guitar and bass guitar, Jones with guitar, Watts with drums and himself with organ on the track with producer Jimmy Miller adding backing vocals. According to the book ''Keith Richards: The Biography'' by

Victor Bockris Victor Bockris (born 1949) is an English-born, U.S.-based author, primarily biographies of artists, writers, and musicians. He has written about Lou Reed (and The Velvet Underground), Andy Warhol, Keith Richards, William S. Burroughs, Terry Sou ...

, the line "I was born in a crossfire hurricane", was written by Richards, and refers to his being born amid the bombing and air raid sirens of

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, England, in 1943 during World War II.

Release and aftermath

Released on 24 May 1968 in the UK by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

and on 1 June in the US by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (backed with "Child of the Moon") was the band's first UK release in five and a half months – this marked the group's longest gap between releases in the country up to that point. A major commercial success, reached the top of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top ...

and peaked at number three in the United States. It topped the US '' Cashbox'' chart for one week and the WLS 890 Hit Parade for four weeks. Some early London Records US pressings and Decca single in the UK of the single had a technical flaw in them: at about 2:10 about halfway through the song's instrumental bridge, the speed of the master tape slows down for a moment, before coming back to speed. The first Rolling Stones album on which the song appeared was their 1969 compilation album, '' Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)'', one year after the single was released. Since then, it has appeared on numerous other Stones compilations, including '' Hot Rocks 1964–1971'' (1971), '' Rolled Gold: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones'' (1975), '' Singles Collection: The London Years'' (1989), ''

Forty Licks ''Forty Licks'' is a double compilation album by the Rolling Stones. A 40-year career-spanning retrospective, ''Forty Licks'' is notable for being the first retrospective to combine their formative Decca/London era of the 1960s, now licensed ...

'' (2002), ''

GRRR! ''GRRR!'' is a greatest hits album by the Rolling Stones. Released on 12 November 2012, it commemorates the band's 50th anniversary. The album features two new songs titled " Doom and Gloom" and " One More Shot", which were recorded in August ...

'' (2012), and ''Stray Cats'', a collection of singles and rarities included as part of '' The Rolling Stones in Mono'' box set (2016). The Rolling Stones have played "Jumpin' Jack Flash" during every tour since its release. It is the song the band have played in concert most frequently, and has appeared on the concert albums '' Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!'' (recorded 1969, released 1970), '' Love You Live'' (recorded 1976, released 1977), '' Flashpoint'' (recorded 1990, released 1991), '' Shine a Light'' (recorded 2006, released 2008), '' Hyde Park Live'' (2013), '' Totally Stripped'' (recorded 1995, released 2016), and '' Havana Moon'' (2016), as well as, notably, ''

The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus ''The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus'' was a concert show organised by the Rolling Stones on 11–12 December 1968. The show was filmed on a makeshift circus stage with Jethro Tull, The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and The Rolling S ...

'' (recorded 1968, released 1996), featuring the only released live performance of the song with

. Unlike most of that show, Jones is heard clearly, mixing with Richards's lead throughout the song. The intro is not usually played in concert and instead the song begins with the main riff. The open E or open D tuning of the rhythm guitar on the studio recording has also not been replicated in concert (with the possible exception of the 1968

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

awards show, no recording of which has ever surfaced). In the performance filmed for ''

'' in December 1968, Richards used standard tuning; and ever since the band's appearance at Hyde Park on 5 July 1969, he has played it in open G tuning with a capo on the fourth fret. Richards is particularly fond of the song's main riff, often crediting it as his favorite among all of his most revered guitar riffs. In March 2005, '' Q'' magazine placed "Jumpin' Jack Flash" at number 2 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communi ...

placed it at number 65 in its show ''100 Greatest Rock Songs''. It has placed in various positions on many "best of" lists including a ranking at 144 on ''

s list of "

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

", 7th on their list of the band's best songs, and the 77th most celebrated song according to

. A cover version of the song was composed to serve as the final mission of the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in ...

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to press ...

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'', in which the titular protagonists use their dancing skills to rally humanity against alien invaders who plan to outlaw all forms of music.

Music video

Two promotional videos were made in May 1968: one of a live performance and another of the band lipsyncing to the studio recording. In the latter, the band members wear makeup.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon, except where noted: The Rolling Stones *

lead vocals, backing vocals *

backing vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, bass tom *

electric rhythm guitar *

organ *

drums Additional musicians * Ian Stewart piano *

Jimmy Miller James Miller (March 23, 1942 – October 22, 1994) was an American record producer and musician. While he produced albums for dozens of different bands and artists, he is most closely associated for his work with several key musical acts of t ...

backing vocals * Rocky Dijon

maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a Rattle (percussion instrument), rattle which appears in many genres of List of Caribbean music genres, Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a p ...

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Aretha Franklin version

In 1986, the song's title was used for the

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

film '' Jumpin' Jack Flash''. In addition to the Rolling Stones' version of the song, the film features

's cover version in which

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a ...

and Richards play guitar, and Franklin plays piano. This version is characterised by influences from the popular black music scene. Only the Rolling Stones' version is on the film's original soundtrack recording.

Personnel

– lead vocals, acoustic piano * Steve Jordan – drums * Alan Rogan – guitar * Ortheia Barnes – backing vocals *Margaret Branch – backing vocals *Brenda Corbett – backing vocals *

– lead guitar *

– guitar *

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bas ...

– bass guitar *

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pr ...

– keyboards

Charts

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

(2020 article) "The Story Behind the Song..."
{{authority control 1968 singles 1986 singles The Rolling Stones songs Decca Records singles London Records singles Arista Records singles Aretha Franklin songs Leon Russell songs Peter Frampton songs Guns N' Roses songs Cashbox number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller Music videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg 1968 songs Thelma Houston songs British hard rock songs